1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disposable, skin-adherent protective collars which can protect a wearer from irritating particulate materials or aqueous fluids.
2. Description of the Related Art
Barbers and beauticians are routinely faced with the problem of providing a means of keeping cut hair or hair treatment fluids from falling down their customers' necks while providing their services. Typical protection consists of a fabric cape, which may have a strip of crepe paper interposed between it and the customer's neck, tightly encircling the customer's neck. The comparatively high profile of the cape frequently results in it directing cut hair or hair treatment fluids into the customer's neck rather than preventing them from doing so Interposing a strip of crepe paper between the cape and the customers neck does little to alleviate the problem as the paper does not reduce the high profile of the cape and further, it is subject to gapping and forming pockets which further aggravates the problem.
An adherent collar having a lower profile than a fabric cape which could be affixed to the customer's neck prior to placement of the cape might have a potential for providing superior protection from particulate or fluid challenges than the conventional creped paper strips. However, previous attempts to provide such collars have, in large part, met with failure, and none is known to be commercial today.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,723,018 to Dunlap describes a collar protector and hair device which comprises a band of fabric adapted to encircle the neck of the user and an adhesive coating adapted to adhere to the flesh of the wearer and to hold the band in position, the adhesive band being limited to a narrow strip along one longitudinal border of the band. Suitable adhesives for the protective collar are said to include those commonly utilized as surgical adhesives.
U.S. Pat. 4,637,411 to Sanders describes a disposable hairdresser's masking sheet of a flexible material for isolating selected strands of a head of hair from other strands of hair while the selected strands are subjected to a coloring agent. The masking sheet comprises a substrate of flexible material configured as two adjacent portions having a common boundary defined by a hinge about which one of the adjacent portions is pivoted relative to the other so as to encapsulate the selected strands of hair and a securing means being carried by the substrate. The securing means described is an adhesive adapted to engage the selected hair strands and the hinged portion of the flexible substrate in a removable manner. The adhesive securing means is displaced inwardly from the edge of the flexible substrate so as to provide a margin free of adhesive which serves as a finger tab to facilitate removal of the sheet.
German Patent No. 1,040,758 describes a collar used to protect the neck of the wearer during a hair cut which comprises a crepe paper strip having a centrally disposed longitudinal stripe of self adhering adhesive. In use, the paper strip is stretched around the wearer's neck and the ends of the adhesive stripe are brought into contact with one another to secure the strip in place without any additional fastening devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,364 to Fenninger discloses a disposable towel, particularly for hairdressing salons, beauty shops or the like, which is comprised by a support of synthetic material bearing an intermediate layer of defibered cellulose, and a non-woven layer covering the intermediate layer and secured with the layer to the support by gluing, sealing or otherwise. On one side of the cut-out for the neck of the wearer, there are provided tabs for the detachable securement to the other side of the towel. A small pocket for a paper napkin is provided at the upper part of the towel near an edge thereof. Another pocket extends transversely of the midportion of the bottom of the towel to receive cut hair, and has lateral internal compartments for carrying barber's and beautician's implements. This latter pocket may be folded against the support and secured to the latter.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,875 to Catania et al discloses a multi-ply strip somewhat longer than the circumference of the average human neck which has two oppositely-facing arcuate edge portions toward the center of the strip to accommodate the contours of the neck In one form, the opposite short ends of the strip have angularly cut-off corner portions to facilitate detachment of the strip from a roll of strips.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,447 to Thompson discloses a protective covering having at least one layer of synthetic polymeric microfibers bonded to at least one layer of cellulosic fibers. The exposed microfibers exhibit a tendency to cling to other natural fibers found in clothing or other webs, while the exposed cellulosic fibers present an absorbent surface. The combination is said to be a soft, flexible, aqueous liquid-barrier web useful as a dinner napkin, bib, furniture cover or the like.